This question has been
debated ever since the
American Kennel Club (AKC)
began registering the
Deutsch Drahthaar
(drahthaar) as a German
wirehaired pointer (GWP)
in the later 1950's. In
my opinion, the question
can be examined from two
different perspectives:
scientifically and from
a breeder’s viewpoint.
Many GWP
breeders state that if
you trace a GWP’s
pedigree back far enough
you will find German
registered drahthaars. I
am sure that DNA testing
would show no genetic
differences between
drahthaars and GWP. So
in the absence of any
available scientific
data, I will concede
that there is no genetic
difference between
drahthaars and GWP.
I
produce drahthaars under
the German registered
kennel name vom
Wildflugel Kennel.
As a breeder I would
like to provide my
thoughts on why the
drahthaar and GWP are
two distinct breeds
within the canine world.
I will point out what I
consider to be
significant differences
concerning their
respective registries
and breed standards. It
is not my intent to make
any value judgments; I
am just providing my
observations and
opinions.
The
versatile hunting dog
concept was first
envisioned by Germans
during the early 1800's.
The drahthaar was
developed by hunters who
wanted a pointer, a
retriever that worked
equally well on land and
in the water, a tracker,
a flusher, and a dog
aggressive enough to
bring down wounded game.
The drahthaar was to be
mentally and physically
tough, but calm and well
mannered to protect a
family and their
property. German
breeders were idealists
who believed that by
selecting the best brood
stock from stichelhaar,
pudelpointer, griffon,
and Deutsch kurzhaar
hunting dogs, any
progeny produced would
have to be the best.
The
Verein Deutsch
Drahthaar, e.V. (VDD)
breed organization was
established in 1902 by a
handful of devoted and
determined breeders who
had complete faith in
their objective. Under
the leadership of Alex
Lauff, the first
president of the VDD who
remained in office for
more than twenty years,
the drahthaar movement
grew. As the VDD became
stronger, the breeding
program was developed
and supervised. These
breeding regulations
were rigid and
demanding. The VDD
maintains the breed
standard, registers
litters, and issues
green registration cards
(Ahnentafels).
At this
same time Sigismund
Freiherr vom Zedlitz und
Neukirch, better known
as Hegewald, was
becoming involved with
drahthaars. Hegewald is
known as the father of
the German utility
hunting dog performance
breeding test. He wrote
many books and articles
on the value and use of
a utility hunting dog.
His works became the
foundation of the
hunting dog movement in
Germany. The first HZP
(fall breed test) was
conducted in 1920 and he
paved the way for the
test structure that is
still used in the VDD
today. Unfortunately,
versatile hunting dog
testing in Germany was
halted from 1940 through
1949 due to World War
II. So as you can see
the testing and breed
regulations go back a
long way and are an
integral part of making
the drahthaar what it is
today.
In the
early 1970's a subgroup
of the VDD known as
Group North America
(VDD-GNA) was
established in the
United States. This
group of dedicated
breeders conforms to the
strict VDD breed
standards and testing
program that was
developed by the parent
organization in Germany.
I am a
member of VDD-GNA and
have made a conscience
decision to follow the
VDD’s strict set of
breeding and testing
regulations. My dogs are
registered as
drahthaars; this is what
appears on the
Ahnentafel and how I
advertise them. Other
individuals have decided
that the VDD is not for
them and have chosen to
follow a different path.
They breed GWP and
register their dogs with
the AKC, North American
Versatile Hunting Dog
Association (NAVHDA), or
Field Stud Dog Book (FSDB).
I
believe the VDD’s
breeding and testing
regulations have taken
the drahthaar in a
different direction from
the GWP. Drahthaars are
required to meet these
strict formal breed
standards before they
can be certified for
breeding purposes. These
standards include an
evaluation of coat,
conformation, field
performance, and gun
sensitivity in the field
and in the water. There
have been minor
adjustments to the
breeding and testing
regulations over the
history of the
drahthaar, but they are
basically the same today
as those developed in
the early 1900's. Since
the turn of the century
the drahthaar has been
selectively bred with
the specific aim of
obtaining an assertive
and efficient working
rough-coated German
versatile gundog.
The AKC
is the all-breed
registry for purebred
dogs in the United
States and the governing
body for AKC-sponsored
dog events, i.e. dog
shows, field trials,
hunts tests, etc. The
German Wirehair Pointer
Club of America (GWPCA)
sets the breed standard
for the GWP in the
United States. The
only requirement an AKC
registered GWP must meet
in order to be used for
breeding is that each
parent be a purebred
representative and be
registered with the AKC
or be a recognized
import from a foreign
registry. While the AKC
and GWPCA encourage and
promote good breeding
practices, there are no
disqualifying faults
that would prevent an
AKC German wirehaired
pointer from being bred
and registered. Neither
of these two
organizations has the
authority to remove any
dog from a breeding
program, it is up to the
breeders and it is
strictly voluntary. On
the other hand, the VDD
will not certify any
drahthaar for breeding
purposes if it has a
hereditary fault, i.e.
underbite, overbite,
missing incisors, fangs,
or molars, missing or
anomalies in the male
sex organs, natural
bobbed or crooked tail,
light nose, glass eyes,
etc., or that is not
mentally or physically
sound.
Many
individuals trial their
GWP in National Shoot to
Retrieve Association (NSTRA),
NAVHDA, and/or AKC
sponsored events, they
do so voluntarily. Some
of these same GWP also
compete in bench shows.
While this information
can and is used by many
AKC breeders to develop
quality breeding
programs, it is my
opinion that most
breeders have absolutely
no testing data on their
brood stock or
offspring. Furthermore,
many breeders are not
familiar with the GWP
breed standards to
objectively evaluate
their dogs’ coat and
conformation or they
choose to ignore the
breed standards
altogether.
Often
subjective GWP breeding
decisions are made based
solely on hunting
ability of the parents,
sometimes at the expense
of conformation and
coat. As previously
stated, the VDD requires
drahthaars to
successfully pass a
field performance
evaluation, gun
sensitivity test in the
field and in the water,
and pass a coat and
conformation evaluation
prior to being used for
breeding.
The
Federation Cynologique
Internationale (FCI) is
the World Canine
Organization which
includes 80 members. The
United States is not a
member of FCI. The FCI
recognizes 339 canine
breeds, each breed is
owned by one member
country and that owner
writes the standard for
the breed. Germany is
the owner country for
the Deutsch drahthaar
and the VDD writes and
maintains the breed
standards. In essence, a
VDD registered drahthaar
can be imported and
registered with the AKC;
however, an AKC
registered GWP cannot be
registered with the VDD.
The coat
lengths on drahthaars
are shorter, denser,
harder, and more
consistently reproduced
than on their GWP
counterparts. The book
titled German
Wirehaired Pointers
by Compere contains
pictures of German
wirehaired pointers with
coat lengths in excess
of 7 cm.
The VDD
registers three coat
colors: braunschimmel
(brown and white roan),
braun (solid brown with
or without white on the
chest), and
schwarzschimmel (black
and white roan). Any
other color is not
permitted. The GWP breed
standards list coat
colors as liver and
white in combination
with ticking and solid
liver. Any black in the
coat is to be severely
penalized. The AKC
permits white coated
dogs with minimal liver
on the body while this
color does not appear
within the drahthaar
breed. Shwarzschimmel
dogs cannot compete in
AKC breed shows,
although they are
permitted to compete in
obedience, fun trials,
agility trials, etc.
In
summary, while from a
genetic standpoint, GWP
and drahthaars are the
same, I strongly believe
that when the AKC began
registering drahthaars
as GWP they became two
different distinct
breeds. There are
several phenotypical
(physical) differences
between the drahthaar
and GWP. American GWP
breeders no longer
follow the rigid testing
and breed certification
program, comply with the
strict VDD breeding
regulations, or produce
drahthaars that meet the
original breed standards
as developed by the
founding organization.
U.S. breeders have
"Americanized" the GWP
for bench and field
purposes. One only needs
to look at the breed
standards and physical
specimens of GWP and
drahthaars to see these
differences.